Patches of Ice
by Red One and the Orange Child
Summary: The rush of cold against his face, each successful glide forward, the freedom of each leap: Jin's gateway out of reality. Just a self-indulgent fanfic because Yuri on Ice. Written by Riley, edited by Kate


When Jin was younger, his Mother was desperate to get him a hobby- any hobby; she didn't care what. All she wanted was to get the quiet boy out of his room where he secluded himself so often, tucked away from the outside world.  
He knew his mother worried but what was he supposed to say? "I see the future and watch people die," sounded like a surefire way to get him locked up in a madhouse. In an effort to avoid the horrors which he had faced, he decided to just shut himself away.  
Ice skating kind of came out of nowhere for him. Apparently a rink had opened up near their house and his mother had made the decision to take him there. On the way there, his was his usual antisocial self, but as he walked into the cold building and pulled on his rental skates, he felt somewhat calm- almost comfortable.  
The rink was inhabited by a man who kept to one corner and a mother and daughter; Jin felt a deep breath, grateful for the lack of humans on the ice. It felt strange for Jin to step onto the ice for the first time. The blades of the skates were thin and the ice slippery. Clutching onto the wall, he focused all of his energy on not falling over. His effort was futile as almost immediately he found himself on the ice in disarray. Looking around, he saw his mother smiling at him. It was a genuine smile, not the ones filled with worry he normally got. Pulling a face, he heaved himself up and gave skating another try. He spent about half an hour gripping the wall and slowly learning to skate before he let go and took his first unsupported glides.  
Two months later and he was taking lessons.  
A year later, he entered his first contest.  
Somehow skating was the relief he needed. Each leap, stride, and spin released the stress from his mind. It was only when he was skating that all thoughts of the future and past left his mind. He was nowhere near being the best, but somehow just being on the ice let him feel free and whole. He had friends again too; he met kids who shared the same interest he did. They didn't care about his story or why he was a little quirky. They all came to cheer him on at his competitions and smiled when he won.

Border entered his life when he was twelve. Skating was all he cared about at the time and it was the only thing keeping him calm with all of the strange things that he had begun seeing. It didn't surprise him when he ended up joining Border, but what did surprise him was how much it took over his life. Training, planning, working on new triggers, and more training: that had become his life.  
In the two years leading up to the invasion, his life was hectic. But through it all, he still found time to skate.

The invasion passed and he had blood on his hands. So many deaths, so many lives he couldn't save and it was killing him. Even skating was tainted, how could he glide on that ice so freely when he'd let so many others who'd skated there die? It was like a trail of red followed behind each stride.  
Desperate to move on from the past Jin threw himself even more into being a part of Border. He watched as life returned to normal for everyone else, but felt as though his joy had been stripped away. In one final bid for normalcy, he moved to Tamakoma.  
Despite having a house, it wasn't his home; the small joy that had filled his life was gone. The nightmares haunted him into each day despite each attempt to push them away. He locked himself away and put his skates on his shelf for four years.

The Aftokrator Invasion was weighing heavily on him; that was to be expected. What he didn't expect was throwing his kohai directly into danger just to stop damage to the city. It had to be done, but that didn't stop the guilt from flooding in with each hospital visit.  
Jin had wandered his way back into Mikumo's hospital room only to have the air sucked out of his lungs. His chest felt so tight and he could only gasp for air. Tears leaked from his eyes as the blurry world began to spin. He collapsed into the nearby chair until he found his breath. Standing up, he was grateful that he was the only conscious person in the room. He wiped his eyes and turned back to face Mikumo's comatose form. He could feel the surge of shame coming back and he found himself racing out of the hospital.  
He needed to skate. He needed to skate! The world passed by him until he was face to face with the ice skating rink. With his rental skates laced on and the rink completely deserted, he wobbled onto the ice. After a few shaky laps around, his legs began to fall back into routine. Jin gilded around the ice, the spins and jumps coming back to him naturally. Aftokrator didn't matter, Border didn't matter, all that mattered in that moment was him on the ice. Peace replaced the pain and suffering that he had witnessed. He finally felt happy again.  
He had skating back, he regained friends that he had pushed away, and, most importantly, Mikumo was out of the hospital. A few months after Jin had gained his life back, he found a coach and entered into a competition.

He had defence duty the day of the contest, but it luckily didn't overlap with the much-anticipated tournament. Jin was on his way out of HQ when a loud voice rang out.  
"Oi Jin where are you going? Come fight me," The Kazama, Tachikawa and Arashiyama Squads stopped him in the lobby.  
"Please fight him he won't leave me alone."  
The completely done look on Kazama's face backed up what he said and Jin almost felt sorry for him. Almost.  
"Why are you here Arashiyama Squad?" Was all Jin could muster.  
Arashiyama shrugged, "We finished our work and somehow ended up wandering around with these guys."  
"Well sorry Tachikawa, I've got somewhere to go," He turned to go only to be stopped again.  
"Where are you going?"  
"Tokyo, I really need to get going so bye," Doing his best to indicate his need to go, Jin emphasized his turn toward the door. He soon realized that the group was shadowing him, "I assume you're all coming with?"  
A simple nod was the only response he got.

Jin stood outside the stadium, pushing down a blush as each of his friends stared incredulously at the building in front of them.  
"Why are we-" Tachikawa didn't have a chance to finish his question as Jin strolled forward and into the building.  
The ice skater ignored the questions that came from the group behind him, but couldn't help but smirk at their utter confusion. The familiar feeling of cold blew against Jin's face and his smirk turned into a smile. It was then that he turned to his befuddled group of friends. Wordlessly, he handed them tickets that he had bought 'just in case'.  
"What's going on?" Arashiyama demanded.  
With an over exaggerated sigh, Jin finally spoke, "Look, just go to these seats. You'll find out why you're here soon enough."  
Jin turned back around and made his way to the locker room. After changing into his sequin costume and skates, he allowed himself to breathe. He closed his eyes and let himself drift into the safety of his mind until he heard his name get called.

Gliding out onto the ice was nerve-wracking to say the least. He was quick to spot his friends, whose jaws were slack and eyes locked onto him. A quick grin was all he could send them as he took his starting position. The music began and his legs moved immediately. Each twirl, twist, leap and stride flowed through Jin's body, fueling him. The freedom of his movements blocked out the cheering crowds and the blaring music. His eyes drifted shut and it was only him and the ice.  
Far too soon, it was over and he was drawn back into reality by the cheers of the people in the stadium. His eyes fluttered open to be met with the awe-struck faces of his friends. Skating off the rink he listened as his score was read off, it was good and he had placed second.  
The locker room was busy. Full of the skaters who didn't place getting changed back into normal clothing and preparing to leave. It was another ten minutes until the final placings were read out and the three who got a medal, including him, headed back out onto the ice.  
The heavy weight of the silver medal around his neck was comforting, he had hoped for gold, especially as his friends were here, but it had only been a few months since he'd begun to skate again and considering that his silver medal was impressive. He skated around the rink a few times with the people who placed first and third before they were told to head off the rink.  
Back in his normal clothes, medal still around his neck, Jin left the locker room. Walking into the lobby, he found Tachikawa and the others just exiting the stands. Grinning he went over to the group, "Tachikawa!"  
"Jin! I didn't know you were an ice skater, that's so cool!"  
Tachikawa was practically bouncing with excitement as he grabbed Jin's shoulders, shaking them, "Why don't you tell us these things!"  
The others nodded in agreement, "He's right ya know, you should tell people about this. You were really good."  
The praise from Arashiyama received another round of agreements from the others causing heat to rise in his face. Jin would never admit it but hearing that from his friends caused a happy sensation in his stomach and made the intense training he did for the contest well worth it.  
"Thanks everyone."


End file.
